Well I went and tinkered with Ol' Girl today after work and I just gotta say.....Thank You All for your words of advice! At the present moment sitting still with the only load being a spinning bush hog and a gentle summer breeze I am getting good smooth RPM's all through the range up to a bouncy 18-1900rpm which is plenty for my needs, though manipulating the outer lever on the governor it will push up past 2100. The spit and sputter is gone it seems (yes it did it parked too) but I will get it out in a field tomorrow for a better test. Other chores are taking priority today.

Again, thanks to all.

R Geiger. Yes the firing order was 1243 but it never hurts to check again. Starting idle hits about 650rpm but after running it up to full throttle and back down the idle wont drop below 850rpm. Not a deal breaker but kinda odd to me. And I found the governor link rod out of adjustment. Per Fig FO58, pg 43, I&T Ford Shop Manual the rod should pull the governor lever to the stop. It didn't but it does now.

Rustyal. You theory that there was a clog in the carb seems to have been spot on. I tore it down again and while I couldn't find a wire small enough to make those tight turns I did use healthy amounts of carb cleaner sprayed both directions through all the passages and then followed that with compressed air. If there was anything lodged in a jet it is no onger there as evidenced by the much smoother running of the engine. But I've now compressed that carb body gasket 3-4 times now. I must make a mental note to grab another one soon.

Tim Daley(MI). Thanks for the welcome to N-series tractors but I'm not exactly new. I bought this beauty 15 years ago but it confounded me this time and the shop manuals were not answering my questions. Per the 12v conversion, it was done at some point before I acquired the tractor (so more than 15yrs ago) and has served me and the machine well. I have renewed frayed wiring and the like but have followed what was already there with no deviations, though I am considering actually wiring up all the lights in the future (they were cut at some point). I will keep your advice on the needle settings in mind if I run into any problems. I have read many variations on the theme (factory = 1 turn, Guy #1 = 1 1/2 turns, Guy #2 = 2 1/2 turns, etc etc) but what gets the tractor to run right is the winner.

Again, thanks to all for their time. Maybe if I lurk here long enough I may be able to offer my own advice to someone and help them out.